by Justin Sloan
Billboards marked the sides of buildings, some old and worn, with images streaked gray from age and rain. Others were new, with messages such as Keep the streets clean and We will rebuild! An electronic billboard showed a line of men and women in similar outfits to the cop they’d spoken to, but their bodies were covered in special combat gear and they carried riot helmets in one hand, pistols in the other. It was on a tower at the far end of the square, and was set up so that the digital images scanned below them, as if they really were watching everyone in the square. The sign below them said The Peace Enforcers: Always Alert, For Your Protection.
Valerie noticed groups of Peace Enforcers, similar to those on the sign, posted at key spots along the square and on top of buildings, rifles at the ready.
“Merde,” Valerie whispered as she continued locating the enforcers every few blocks. “Is it always like this?”
Diego had to step back as someone nearly walked into him, then puckered his face as they swore at him to stay out of the way.
“If it is, I’ll be glad to be moving on,” Diego admitted.
Sandra saw someone standing nearby, hugging himself and rocking back and forth. She looked to Valerie and Diego with a raised eyebrow that showed she agreed with Diego’s assessment.
With a deep breath, Sandra stepped up to the guy and said, “Excuse me, where are we?”
“Huh, what?” The man looked at her with moist eyes.
“Um, where are we?” She gestured to the square. “This place?”
“This is a square and you’re in the capital, so figure it out,” the man said before stepping forward to join the crowd.
“Sounds like we’ve found Capital Square,” Valerie said, with a nod of thanks to Sandra for asking. “Now we just have to find that bar.”
“El Capitan said to find the Enforcers, go straight left, and we’d find a green door in the second alley on our right.” Diego craned his neck to see the streets near the Enforcer sign. “Just have to make it through all these people, and we’ll be there.”
“Easy as that,” Valerie said with a laugh, looking left and right. “Tell you what, stay close and I’ll take care of it.”
Without waiting for confirmation, Valerie pushed forward. As she’d expected, her vampire strength was enough to keep the crowd at bay. She just held out her arms as she walked, parting the sea of people. A couple yelled after her, but no harm came to them, and she could feel Sandra clinging to her the whole way.
Finally, they reached the spot below the Peace Enforcers’ sign, and she turned to ask Diego which direction was next. Sandra’s relieved smile was there, but past her—no sign of Diego.
“Did you see where he went?” Valerie asked, eyes darting through the crowd.
“I—I thought he was right behind me, I didn’t even notice he was gone!” Sandra said. “Can’t you like, smell him or something?”
Valerie closed her eyes, focusing on her nose. There were so many scents with all these people, it was hard to tell. But then she caught it—a Were. Only, this wasn’t just one Were, and it wasn’t Diego.
She opened her eyes to see three men and a woman at the edge of the crowd near a pile of smashed metal that looked like old cars. All three were staring right at her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Old Manhattan
Diego had been walking with Sandra in front of him as he both watched her and the buildings around him.
Then strong hands grabbed him, something damp covered his mouth, and he was being carried through the crowd. His muscles went limp, refusing to move as his mind screamed for them to act.
It didn’t make sense. He could smell the Weres, so he knew they were his kind. but what was happening? Why were they doing this?
His head hung loosely and he saw the slick pavement, trash littered, and feet—several in fancy dress shoes, one in a pair of cowboy boots.
Everything moved in and out of focus, and he tried one more time to lift his head and get a glimpse of his assailants. He didn’t get far, just a twitch of his head, and then one of them growled and clocked him good across the jaw.
At least whatever they’d given him was strong enough that he didn’t feel the hit, yet. He was sure that when this was over, it’d sting like hell.
A door opened and light shot across the dark sidewalk. A moment later they were inside, after one of the jerkoffs banged his head against the doorjamb. They put him in a chair so that his head was propped up. The light shone right on him, and the four other Weres stood in the darkness.
Still, blinding light or not, he could tell the one in cowboy boots was a woman.
“You brought a vampire into our city,” she said, her voice harsh and strained, as if from too much yelling. “An offense punishable by death. Usually the type where we tear your arms and legs off in as painful a fashion as possible.”
She stepped forward, finally, so that she came fully into the light. She was smiling, and he couldn’t help but notice her thick eyelashes and the way her black hair fell across half of her face. Then the malice in her eyes captured his attention, right before she lifted her right foot and stuck the cowboy boot between his legs, less than an inch from contact.
“Only reason you’re still alive,” she leaned in toward him, the smile gone, “is because we’re guessing you’re with the Sacred Clan. Lucky for you, we owe them a favor. Now, I’d say you have about ten seconds before your mouth starts working well enough for you to talk again, so how about you think about how you want to answer this.”
A large man behind her, still in the shadows, added, “I’d advise you do it honestly.”
Diego almost wanted to laugh at this whole situation and how ridiculous it was. But he couldn’t, because he’d seen worse, and knew how this could go down.
Comedic intimidation tactics notwithstanding.
“Why were you walking with a vampire in our city, Clan boy?” the woman finished. She pulled out a short bamboo stick, then one of the guys tossed her another. Diego knew them well enough: Kali, or Filipino fighting sticks.
She smiled at the recognition in his eyes. “I’ve been out of practice lately, because these don’t kill so well. But when it’s time to get answers? Oh baby, these are my best friends. So, going to tell us what’s up, or be nice and quiet and let me have my fun?”
He opened his mouth to talk, but his tongue was sluggish. She had a glint in her eyes, and he realized she knew he wouldn’t be able to talk yet. Not that he could do anything about it.
And he certainly couldn’t do anything about the stick that was coming at him.
WHACK!
He felt that one, hard, across the shoulder. A low groan escaped his lips, and he looked up to see the second strike coming. He closed his eyes, wondering how he was going to get through this painful situation.
***
Sandra led the way, figuring that if they could find the bar, it’d be the best chance of meeting up with Diego. He must have just gotten lost, right? Separated from them in the crowd?
Valerie walked briskly beside Sandra. “You’re not listening.”
Sandra bit her lip. “If he got separated, he’d meet us back at the one location we were trying to find.” Her eyes searched the street. It seemed to be the one he had described. “If he had trouble, we know he has his talent of slipping away, in which case he’d meet us at the bar. So either way, this makes the most sense, right?”
“Sandra!” Valerie grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her in spite of the slight struggle. She lowered her voice when she said, “They were Weres.”
The younger woman’s face contorted into fear and disgust, and then she shook her head, out of ideas and losing hope.
Her heart wasn’t only pounding at thousand beats a minute because she was scared for Diego, but because she felt it had been her fault. She’d been right there, nearly in contact with him. They’d been close enough that she could have probably even smelled his Were scent.
One moment he’d been there, and the
next he simply wasn’t.
And it was her fault for not keeping track of him. She’d let Valerie down.
But then she had a realization.
“He was going to the bar to either meet up with Weres, or find info about where the Weres are, right?” she asked, new hope dawning on her face.
“I… think so.” Valerie frowned, and then her voice firmed in decision. “Let’s not waste any time then.”
They ran, Sandra doing her best to keep up. But that was never easy with a vampire.
***
“Mistress!” Sandra said.
Valerie glanced back over her shoulder to see the green door she’d nearly missed in her haste. She turned back and, not bothering to knock, kicked in the door. Instantly, five extremely large men stood from a nearby table, and a man behind the bar counter ducked, then popped up a second later with a shotgun.
“Shit!” Sandra yelled, and ducked back out the door.
Valerie, however, didn’t hesitate.
“Stay outside!” She charged, dodging the first shot as much as possible, but still took a couple of hits. Damn, it hurt like shit, but distance was her friend this time. She’d heal, but if these guys harmed Diego, she couldn’t promise them the same.
Her first move was to leap over the bar before the man could get off another shot. His eyes went wide as he saw her speed, but by the time he’d processed it, she’d grabbed the shotgun and slammed the butt end of it into his face. He crumpled to the floor, shouting in pain as blood cascaded from his broken nose.
“Where’s Diego?” she asked. No answer, so she stepped up onto the table and asked louder. “A young man named Diego, where?”
Everyone stared at her with a mixture of contempt and terror. For a moment, she almost wondered if she’d come to the wrong place, but then the scent of Were returned as a back door opened.
A portion of that scent felt familiar—possibly Diego?
Out walked several large men, followed by a woman carrying Filipino fighting sticks and wearing cowboy boots smeared with blood.
“Everybody out,” the cowgirl said. The reaction was instantaneous. Half the bar fled while several others, mostly the larger ones, joined her.
The bartender slowly stood, grabbing hold of the bar to steady himself, and yelled, “That bitch broke my nose!”
“Could’ve done much worse,” Valerie said, with a glance toward the door to make sure Sandra had stayed outside. For once, that girl had better select the wisest choice, or Valerie was going to be in trouble trying to protect the two of them.
“Oh, it’s about to get a whole lot worse in here,” the female Alpha said. She shook her fighting sticks, and the covers came off to reveal a pair of short swords.
Valerie’s eyes widened, admiring the steel. “Cool toys,” she said, meaning it. “I might have to take them when this is over.”
“Have them,” the cowgirl said, and then threw them both at Valerie, one after the other.
Damn, what had she gotten herself into? She dodged the first blade, but the second lodged into her shoulder and caused her to drop the shotgun.
“Bitch!” Valerie yelled, pulling the short sword from her shoulder with one hand while drawing her sword with the other. “That hurt like hell!”
The girl smiled and removed her boots. “Then you’re not going to like this.”
With a nod from the now-barefoot cowgirl, the dozen or so remaining men transformed into huge wolves, and the cowgirl transformed into the largest wolf Valerie had ever seen—all black, with red eyes and long, sharp teeth that glimmered in the dim light as the wolf growled.
Yeah, this sucked.
All the wolves charged. Valerie was hurt, but she still had two swords and was faster than any of them. Her first move was to take down a wolf that leapt at her by lodging the short sword into its side and propelling it into another attacker. Keeping the motion going, she spun and brought her other sword down and across a second wolf, who fell back with a loud yelp of pain, the silver causing it to whimper and whine, the healing slower.
She dodged another attack, then kicked the wolf so hard it flew into the far wall, then bounced off and collapsed unconscious onto the floor. The black wolf was unguarded now, so she charged, only too late understanding the trap that they had set for her.
Two slammed into her at once. She dropped her sword as their teeth snapped inches from her face. Grabbing their heads, she slammed them together as two more came at her from the rear. One tried to rip into her calf with its teeth while another leaped for her throat. She blocked so that the bite connected with her arm, then bit down on her scream as its teeth tore into her flesh.
Then the black wolf was on her, its weight disturbing. Outside of vampires, it was like nothing she had experienced. Still, there are vampires... and there was Valerie. She pushed the wolves off of her and turned, heavy breaths coming quick as her eyes took on a red glow and her fangs grew longer. She could feel the energy coursing through her, ready to explode.
No more Miss Nice Vampire.
Everything she’d learned in her training came back, and she was moving, striking, and kicking her way to her sword. With only her left arm working well at this point, she picked up the sword and, with vampire speed, charged the black wolf.
The wolf’s eyes lost their assurance, and a moment later, a nude woman was kneeling before Valerie. Valerie stood with her sword raised, blood dripping, rage in her bones causing her good arm to shake. A quick glance around showed that the rest of them had followed the woman’s lead, and were now transformed back to human form and kneeling. Piles of clothes littered the bar, along with streaks of blood and at least one unconscious wolf—a weird mixture of comical and terrifying.
Slowly, the woman lifted her head to meet Valerie’s eyes. “How?”
“The fuck?” Valerie shouted, spittle flying. “How what?”
“No vampire is as strong as you,” the woman whispered. “Your kind only exists in legends. It’s as if….” Her head tilted, and her eyes widened. “You’ve returned?”
“What?”
The woman stood now, no modesty in this room full of nude men. Valerie found it unnerving—it was a sign of a different type of power. “Are you the one… some say you’ve returned. Stories of a vampire, come back, stronger than all others.”
Valerie glanced around, totally caught off guard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She allowed her sword to dip slightly.
“Bethany Anne?” the Alpha asked.
Valerie scoffed. “You think that if I was Bethany Anne, a single one of you would be alive right now?”
That put a touch of reality back into the cowgirl, but what really sobered her up was a pounding on the front door.
“Peace Enforcers, open up!” a loud voice boomed.
“Well fuckity-fuck,” the woman said, glancing around at her men. In a quick, hushed tone, she said, “Cover your pitiful wankers and clean this shit up.” She spun, putting her clothes back on, and nodded to Valerie as she pulled on her boots, “You better get out of here…. Your friend, back room.”
Valerie didn’t wait to find out what would happen next. The lady said her friend was in the back room, that’s where she’d go. With a glance back, she saw that the Weres were already cleaned up and dressed, one of them at the door and stalling while two more dragged their unconscious friend behind the bar. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time this had happened.
